Last Friends – Rasuto Furenzu – ラスト フレンズ

I have been watching one of the latest Japanese Dramas (JDrama), Last Friends… or RASUTO FURENZU as its read Katakana name. It is the first Asian drama I have seen (Chinese, Korean… or any other) – and despite the fact that I have seen my fair amount of Asian films, or listened to music in an Asiatic language. Last Friends is my first EVER Asian Soap… or as I call it, my AsiaNovela.

Last Thursday, we saw the fifth episode… so I have been roughly watching this weekly for the past month, and I can’t wait for more! LOL’ – Watch the Intro here – First, the Intro theme (which played on Ep01, 02 and 03) is stunningly beautiful, featuring the 5 main characters in a white room, with almost everything white, and lovely framing. Accompanying this is the theme provided by Utada Hikaru, Prisoner of Love. Then some added drama…

The supposedly 11-episode drama stars no one I knew, ha! But I have been quickly impressed by Ueno Juri’s performance. Despite theme, or storyline… or even character – there’s just something very compelling about the way Ueno Juri holds her own on screen. And as I read somewhere online, Ueno Juri might be turning into the ‘must-see’ star on Japanese televisions…

The show is about Michiru (Nagasawa Masami), a young 22-year-old Japanese girl working as a hair stylist in Tokyo who moves in with her boyfriend, Sousuke (Nishikido Ryo), who works for Child Welfare. On the same period of time, Michiru also meets with high-school-friend Ruka (Ueno Juri), whom Michru hadn’t seen in roughly 4 years due to family issues. And let me tell you, Michiru has a lot of family issues~~~

Ruka is another young 22-or-something-year-old Japanese girl working at a bike shop, and training as a motocross racer… and she has a crush on Michiru, but cannot profess her love for obvious reasons. At first glance, Ruka seems confident, and care-free, but soon it all changes, as we discover the silent suffering of not being able to be who she really is, even with her closest friends. She can’t even be, who she really feels~~

As Michiru tells how lovely her relationship with Sousuke is, we quickly discover the hurt that he would cause Michiru, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. Everyone seems to be torn apart!!

Part of the storyline also shows Takeru (Eita), a professional makeup and hair artists, with close physical contact issues, who befriends Ruka for mere chance, and the help of Ruka’s roommate, Eri (Mizukawa Asami), a seemingly happy-go-lucky flight attendant with isolation issues.

So, to be clear… the Introduction of the show means something!

Michiru – Love – She must deal with choosing between Sousuke, Ruka… and even herself. She must learn how to love and respect herself, in order to be loved.

Ruka – Liberation – Even if she loves herself, and loves Michiru, Ruka can’t be herself. Will she take the ultimate step, or will she succumb?

Takeru – Agony – He loves people, but can’t let them get too close. Whatever happened to him, sexual abuse or anything keeps him from being truly happy.

Eri – Solitude – She obviously fears being lonely. She feels rejected by her co-workers, and if she’s promiscuous, it’s because she must feel that she has to do it for people to not leave. I don’t feel she’s promiscuous, though haha… maybe to Japanese standards. (See Shane McCutcheon for Promiscuous). HA!

Sousuke – Contradiction – Let’s face it, Sousuke is a walking contradiction! He said he loved Michiru, but has problems accepting her as she is. He said he would never do it again, but he does it again… He is not only abusive, but manipulative, and scheming. He says something, does something else, while his mind tells a whole different story.

Well, from Ep01 – we know that Michiru is pregnant, Ruka doesn’t have contact with her (*sadness*), and actually… Michiru seemed pretty much alone. There’s also a voice over from Takeru… did HE knock her up???? Or is it Sousuke’s kid??? Did Sousuke kill himself???? Did Ruka kill Sousuke??? WTF happened to Eri?? She truly doesn’t fit on this storyline, LOL’

5 responses to Last Friends – Rasuto Furenzu – ラスト フレンズ

because eri has a own program(episodes) after the last friends series is aired out and its around 1 hour each episode about eri. ^_- i hope other ppl or some jdorama sites will post it up becus it relates alot about last friends and her personality in this jdorama

Yeah, I read about those, and I wish someone would post them online because I’m uber curious and think Eri is a really interesting person too. But truth is that’s a cheap way to tie in her storyline, I think. That’d be like releasing a drama film, like The Hours, where all characters have a storyline and get a 1hr short-film to explain why Ed Harris’ character does what he does in the end…

OMG, how has my description changed since Ep06! To me, now Juri Ueno belongs on the Lead Actress category. From the beginning we knew Ruka to be complex, and writers have been slowly developing her, alongside Takeru who has come a long way since Ep01 and being just around.

So yes, I have a soft spot for Michiru/Ruka… and a soft spot for Takeru/Ruka.